According to press reports, Secretary of State John Kerry was confronted by Syrian civil-society workers at a London reception earlier this month. The activists pressed him on why the U.S. had failed to respond to the Russian and Syrian offensive near Syria’s second city of Aleppo. Exasperated, Kerry remarked, “What do you want me to do, go to war with Russia?” Such is the pattern of the Obama administration — from the Iran nuclear deal to the Syrian civil war, it has sought to press home a false choice: capitulate on core demands or escalate to major war.

This strawman is nothing less than justification for submission, the first act of which is to facilitate Russia’s campaign through a just-announced “cessation of hostilities” agreement. An honest assessment of American options would acknowledge another path: a middle way that leverages one of America’s greatest strengths — its vast reservoir of friends and allies.

The United States is at its best when it rallies our allies against our enemies. Time and again, however, the Obama administration has done the opposite. In the nuclear negotiations with Iran, for example, U.S. officials informed our allies about developments only after the fact. Moreover, by negotiating directly with Iran, the administration fractured our coalition under the pretense of expediency, allowing Iran to introduce demands late in the game with the support of Russia.